ROHTAK: 24-year-old, Naushad Mohammed was robbed, stripped, tortured and beaten by a mob, allegedly for cattle smuggling, at a village in Haryana on January 19.

Naushad Mohammad, a resident of Shamli district, Uttar Pradesh had gone to Rohtak on Saturday to buy cattle for farming. In the evening, while he was on his way home along with his two friends with three buffaloes in his truck, a mob caught up with his truck at Bhalaut, a village near Rohtak and attacked him.

Naushad was singled out on the basis of his religious identity and attacked.

Jaspal Gummama, the prime accused led the crowd.

They beat him with sticks, stripped him and burned his ears, arms and lips with cigarette butts. Then they dragged him over the road and tied him to an electric pillar. Some people from the local village tried to save him, but the mob did not listen to them.

The torture that started at 08:00 pm went on for two hours till the police came around 10:15 p.m.

Police did not do anything to stop the torture. While he was being taken away by the police, even then the crowd continued to beat him and kick him.

Naushad, who was in need of immediate medical help, was not taken to the medical centre. He was taken to the Sadar police station where police kept him chained to a bed inside the police station. He was given one pain killer and a cup of tea.

Next day, when I along with my friends went to the police station we found him chained at the police station and Jaspal Gummama (the prime accused) sitting freely on the chair.

While in the police station his hands were cuffed and he was kept in police custody for more than 16 hours.

After we intervened and tried to click photos, Naushad was allowed to go only on Monday night.

Police officials of the Sadar police station are lying when they are saying that photographs showing him chained are not of their police station.

The police have constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the confinement and beating up of the Muslim youth who hails from Uttar Pradesh at a Rohtak village over suspicion of cattle smuggling.

We went to the Superintendent of Police (SP) Rohtak, Jashandeep Singh Randhawa to take due action. He said, "A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed and strict legal action will be taken against the persons responsible for the wrongful confinement and beating up of the youth. Disciplinary action will be taken against the police officials dealing with the matter if any lapse is found on their part."

(As told by Preet Singh to The Citizen. Preet Singh is president of a local unit of All India Kisan Sabha, Haryana and it is because of his intervention that the incident came to light)

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